Prisoner

The mild but familiar stench of rotting flesh made Kiran squint and gingerly open her eyes. She felt sluggish and sleepy, as if she had just woken up from a long and much needed nap. Instead of a cozy pillow or a comfortable bed, however, she woke up to the maroon scarf covering the crook of Noorh's neck.

Kiran gasped and quickly leaned away, her cheeks flushed scarlet at the thought of sleeping on a man's chest. Noorh didn't seem to mind it though. In fact, he sat unperturbed and unmoving in front of her as if he himself had fallen into a deep slumber.

"Noorh?" Kiran asked, her hands tentatively touching his shoulders. His head was bowed low, almost as if he had fallen asleep due to extreme exhaustion. "Noorh, wake up," she said, gently shaking his shoulders. "Noorh," she called out again before gingerly tipping his chin upward to take a closer look at his condition.

To her horror, Noorh's face had turned ashen. His skin was ice cold and his lips was a shade of purple. Black veins seemed to creep up from his neck to his jaw. Kiran recognized the veins from the fantasy books she read and TV shows she had watched. Marks similar to the veins on his skin usually appeared on characters of fantasy stories when they were poisoned or cursed.

She gasped, remembering what had happened before she fell unconscious. Noorh must have escaped the snake, but not before it could inflict harm on him. Had he been bitten by the snake? The black veins could be the giant snake's venom creeping up to his brain.

Kiran quickly rummaged through his clothes. Her heart raced as she peeled away his maroon scarf and black cloak, examining the back of his neck for bite marks. While she had to admit that she was uncomfortable at undressing a man for the first time, she was more anxious about being incapable of saving him.

Based on the TV shows and movies she watched, one way to save someone bitten by a snake was to suck the venom out of the wound. It wasn't recommended by experts because the venom could kill whoever tried to suck it out. There also wasn't any guarantee that sucking the venom with one's mouth could get rid of all the venom inside a victim's veins. Having no prior experience in sucking venom - much less blood - out of someone, she wasn't confident that she could perform it properly. She was determined to try it anyway.

Another option she remembered was making a tourniquet near the snake bite to keep the venom from reaching the vital organs of the body. She wasn't sure if it would do anything good since the black veins were already creeping up Noorh's jaw. She wasn't good at tying things either but if there was the slightest possibility that doing so could stop the venom from reaching his brain, she would do her best to make one.

She plopped in front of him and flipped his arms and legs, checking it for bloodstains or any sign of a giant snake bite or holes that might have been left by two big fangs at the very least. She wasn't ready to leave Noorh's unmoving body behind, not when he was her only chance at getting down the pillar alive. It was also partly her fault that he didn't escape the snake in time. If she had just screamed her lungs out like all those heroines on TV and movies instead of freezing up like she usually did, he would have dodged the snake.

Kiran found a thick obsidian armor underneath all the cloak. It covered his brown shirt top. Kiran couldn't find its clasps to unlock it. It made her wonder of any average seductress could have taken advantage of him in his weakened and unconscious state, or if they would have been as clueless as she was about ripping the armor off of Noorh. She checked his waist and pants just in case it had the bite marks she was looking for, but she only found his toned limbs neatly wrapped in his skinny leather trousers.

There wasn't any sign of a snake bite anywhere.

Kiran tried to follow the black veins crawling up of Noorh's neck. It seemed to have come from underneath his shirt and armor, and she still couldn't figure out how to peel them off of Noorh. She tried to pull up his shirt through the armor and managed to expose some of his flesh. The armor seemed to be covering the parts where the veins might have stemmed from, which was somewhere around his almost unmoving chest.

Had he been poisoned by the miasma? Dodging the snake must have demanded him to take a deep breath, allowing the miasma to fill his lungs. It was a miracle that she didn't wake up inside one of the winged-serpents' nests, let alone with a hatchling feasting on her torso.

Kiran cringed at the thought. She shook her head to shoo it away and wrapped her trembling palms around Noorh's neck. She could still feel a faint pulse from his cold skin, but he was so pale and still that she feared it would soon disappear.

"Noorh," Kiran tearfully called out. "It's all my fault. I'm sorry. Please wake up," she said, leaning her forehead against his. He felt as cold and unmoving as a marble statue. Kiran wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace, hoping that warming him up could somehow help him.

Noorh could have left her that evening in the meadow, but he returned and saved her from a giant serpent. Even if he did take some time before meeting her again, he still risked his life to save her after she fell down the cliff. How did he even save her that time? He also offered to send her back to her world instead of abandoning her completely.

And what did his kind efforts bring him?

Kiran snuggled into the crook of his neck, her eyes brimming with tears of guilt. If Alessa - who was far more athletic and sensible than her - was there, he wouldn't have suffered so much. They were probably able to leave the pillar easily with their combined efforts and courage. If Kiran hadn't interfered, if she hadn't been so weak and helpless…

"I'm sorry," she whispered against Noorh's ear, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry. Please don't leave me. I promise to work hard and help you. I'll be more like Alessa if I have to. Just please…please stay with me…"

***

Noorh stared blankly at the verdant hedges and colorful flowers splayed out in an intricate maze outside his window. He had always wanted to explore the place, but he was forbidden from ever leaving his residence without the king's permission.

The garden looked lively and cheerful compared to the four dreary corners of his almost dark and empty bedroom. The blue sky was a stark contrast to the bedroom's aged walls which were intricately painted with scenes that reminded him of his family's lineage: tales that served as a constant reminder of his life's purpose and existence. The polished scarlet wooden floor beneath his feet reminded him of the blood that had been shed because of him, and the gold drapes along the four-post bed and windows reminded him of the responsibility he had to carry on his shoulders at a young age.

Noorh always felt like he was trapped in that room, no matter how it was furnished to be his safe haven. Looking out his window was his only reprieve. And at times when there were parties in the courtyard, he would be forbidden from taking a peek at his distant sanctuary. He would be locked in the attic to study, or sent to the grounds to train until his body collapsed in exhaustion.

Eight-year-old Noorh was a prisoner in his own home.

"Noorah," a familiar voice excitedly called out from behind him.

Noorh turned around and found a young man smiling happily back at him. His short bluish black hair and the obsidian hue of his eyes matched Noorh's - the only real resemblance they shared as siblings.

"Sorry, I'm late," the young man said. "Let's go?"

Noorh blinked. "Go where?" he asked, feeling somewhat puzzled at his presence. Something inside him told him that the young man shouldn't be there.

"Outside, silly," the young man answered, chuckling. "Didn't I promise to take you out today?" He extended his hand to Noorh with a pleased smile on his lips. "I'm here to keep that promise. Take my hand and we'll leave this boring room of yours behind."

Noorh stared wide-eyed at him. "You'll get me out of here?"

"Of course! Haven't you been waiting for me all this time?" the young man replied.

Noorh's heart leaped with excitement. He was finally leaving his room - his cage! He would finally receive the freedom he longed to have. Then a thought hit him. "Won't you get in trouble?" Noorh would be leaving without the king's permission after all. The young man could be punished for sneaking him out.

"Me? In trouble?" the young man snickered. "It's them who will get in trouble if they cross me. Now are we going to leave this place? Or are we going to wait until they come here and stop us?"

Noorh smirked. The young man was just as naughty as he remembered. He approached him and stretched out his own hand, ready to grab his open palm.

"I'm so sorry. Please don't leave me."

Noorh froze. The female voice seemed to echo from afar.

"I promise to work hard and help you. I'll be more like Alessa if I have to."

Noorh snapped his head to stare confused at the window. Alessa? Why did that name sound familiar to him? Who was Alessa? Was the voice from Alessa? No. It didn't seem that way.

"Just please…please stay with me…"

A feeling of warmth bloomed from his chest. Noorh glanced down and found a white glow slowly devouring his body.

"I guess I'm no longer needed here," a familiar voice said from the direction of the doorway.

Noorh glanced at the door and found two young men there instead of one. The newly arrived young man had pitch-black hair, smiling eyes, and intricately-layered and embellished robes. Noorh recognized him.

"Come home soon, Noorh," he said before a blinding white light filled Noorh's vision.

***

Noorh squinted his eyes as he felt the warmth fill his chest. The sensation slowly spread to his arms and legs, until it reached his toes and fingers. He felt the haze of sleep ease away from his body, along with the wave of exhaustion that overwhelmed his senses. He gingerly opened his heavy eyelids, giving him a blurry view of the world. He started hearing Kiran's muffled sobs against his ear and felt trembling shoulders against his chest.

Noorh groaned against Kiran's tight embrace, realizing how it seemed to somewhat restrict his breathing. "K-kiran," he coughed as his vision slowly cleared.

"Noorh!" she gasped, quickly leaning away but still gripping his shoulders tightly as she examined his face. His cheeks were slowly gaining a hint of color and the black veins along his jaw seemed to have shrunken away. "You're okay! I mean you're not dead! I thought you were gone because you were so pale and purple and unmoving like a statue and-oh Noorh!" she cried, burying her face in the crook of his neck and tearfully hugging him tightly again. "I'm so sorry. I saw the snake and I didn't warn you and I breathed in the miasma and I...It's all my fault. I'm so sorry!"

"Stop," Noorh managed to croak in between Kiran's regretful sobs. He sighed as his body slowly recovered its strength enough to gently nudge Kiran away. "You're too loud," he muttered, his ears still ringing slightly.

Kiran anxiously leaned away and covered her lips. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" she whispered.

Noorh frowned as a chill quickly seeped into his upper body. He curiously glanced down and realized that his armor, shirt, and trousers were exposed. A patch of his torso's skin was even prickling against the icy breeze; the shirt that supposedly protected it underneath his armor pulled up to expose it.

Noorh glanced at his sides and found his cloak strewn across the steps beside them, along with the maroon scarf that shielded his neck from the cold. Noorh raised a brow at Kiran, his sharp eyes intently eyeing her guilty expression.

"Were you trying to strip me?" he asked.